China's largest power web builder is plugging a heap of grid
extension plans to try and satisfy the country's surging demand for
power.
The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) plans to put a
750-kilovolt pilot transmission project into commercial operation
in northwestern China within five months, to link the two
provincial grids of Qinghai
and Gansu,
said SGCC sources on Friday.
"Construction (for the 750-kilovolt project) is expected to wrap
up in October," an SGCC official said.
On completion, the project will be the highest voltage power
transmission facility in China built at the highest altitude
worldwide, said industry experts.
"Responding to the West China Development Program, the
750-kilovolt project plays a strategic part in transforming the
rich energy resources of the western region into economic
advantages," said Wang Xiaohui, an industry analyst with
Beijing-based CITIC Securities.
As part of the company's goal to build an ultra high-voltage
nationwide grid, another two 1,000-kilovolt lines for transmitting
from Yulin of Shaanxi Province to Wuhai of Hubei and from Anhui's
Huainan to Shanghai are also in progress.
Both projects are expected to be operational by the end of 2007,
said sources.
SGCC has organized a think tank comprising experts from the
country's major power research institutes and largest foreign
industrial giants, such as ABB and Areva, to ensure the scheduled
operation of the cutting-edge project, Areva sources said.
A feasibility study of the 1,200-kilometre Shaanxi-Hubei line
will end by next month and construction will be started by the end
of the year, sources from the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) said.
The Anhui-Shanghai project, for which research is expected to be
completed by July, aims to ease the power supply crunch of the
country's commercial hub through drawing upon the rich power
resources fuelled by several power plants in east China's Anhui
Province.
In the near future, 5,556 kilometers of power transmission lines
of more than 220 kilovolts are expected to be operational before
the summer peak hours for power supply.
Major cross-region transmission projects in the northwest,
northeast and east China - to complete construction before this
summer - will largely contribute to the grid builder's 2005 target
to transmit 14.7 percent more electricity across different regions
and provinces on a year-on-year basis.
The largest power supply gap within the company's grid range
this year will reach up to 25 million kilowatts at peak hours, said
SGCC's president Liu Zhenya in a work conference on Tuesday.
The grid builder has given priority to domestic electricity
users, agricultural sectors and other major power consumers that
affect the economy, said Liu.
It also vowed to secure power supply by advancing technology and
management.
(China Daily May 28, 2005)